Five SuperCoach takeaways from Melbourne v St Kilda, West Coast v Geelong

Ryan Maric’s brilliant run as a SuperCoach cash cow is officially over. See all the big lessons from super Sunday of round 12.

Geelong survived a scare to put away West Coast and St Kilda scored an upset win over Melbourne to close out round 12.

The first week of the mid-season byes was a rollercoaster for SuperCoaches.

Here are the big things we learned on super Sunday.

BAZ GOES BERSERK

Well played to the 18.5 per cent of coaches who were brave enough to put the captaincy on Bailey Smith. Others may have been scared off by an injury cloud over the Cats’ star recruit, but he put any doubts over his fitness to bed with an incredible 15-disposal first quarter, adding another 10 and a goal in the second. Brady Hough did well to slow him down in the second half, but the damage was well and truly done.

EAGLES CASH COW HAS TO BE CULLED

A move up the ground from Ryan Maric last week had the alarm bells ringing, and any hope he could continue his run as one of the year’s best cash cows was wiped away in Perth. Maric played almost exclusively on a wing, losing the kick-in role that has helped him average 88 points a game over the first 11 rounds. But he had just 60 when he was subbed off midway through the first quarter – almost 100 short of his Break Even. He will leak cash this week, and even more next round – if he keeps his spot in the team. Time to pull the trade trigger!

Ryan Maric flyes against Ollie Dempsey. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

IS RED CENTRE GAWN’S KRYPTONITE?

Max Gawn has dominated all over Australia, putting up some huge SuperCoach numbers from Hobart to Darwin. But he isn’t quite himself in Alice Springs. Coming into Sunday’s clash against St Kilda, Gawn had played at the venue 11 times for an average of 99.4 SuperCoach points. He recovered after a slow start against the Saints to finish with 110 – hardly a shocker, but perhaps we should think twice about putting the C on Max next time he plays in the Red Centre.

KILLER CAL

St Kilda star Callum Wilkie punished an inefficient Melbourne with the third-highest SuperCoach score of his career. The defender feasted on the Demons’ poor entries and lack of pressure with 31 disposals, 15 marks and 150 SuperCoach points. The All-Australian issued a great return for the 1281 SuperCoaches who took a punt on him this week. It was a day for the defenders in Alice Springs, with Melbourne gun Steven May also racking up a team-high 133.

Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera dashes through the middle in Alice Springs. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

NAS FINISHES HOT

It was a complete rollercoaster for the 8000 SuperCoaches who traded for Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera this week. The St Kilda dasher left the ground midway through the second quarter under concussion concerns when Melbourne’s Aidan Johnson bumped him high. He returned to the field but didn’t look his usual self with just 34 SuperCoach points to his name halfway through the third quarter. But Melbourne’s poor kicking at goal, and slack defending, allowed ‘Nas’ to dominate the final quarter. Wanganeen-Milera gathered 15 disposals – all kicks – in the final stanza to finish with an even 100 SuperCoach. It’s still short of the play-maker’s 118 break even but every one of his coaches would take it after the thrill ride of an afternoon he had in Alice Springs.

Recap all the action and SuperCoach news in the live blog below.

Originally published as Five SuperCoach takeaways from Melbourne v St Kilda, West Coast v Geelong